Starbucks delivery to start in Seattle, New York City

CANDICE CHOI

Mar. 18, 2015

NEW YORK (AP) — Starbucks says it will start delivering to customers in select parts of Seattle and New York City later this year.

The details will be discussed at the coffee chain's annual meeting Wednesday.

In Seattle, it said it will team up with a company called Postmates to deliver to homes and offices within specific areas. In New York City, delivery will be from existing or newly setup Starbucks shops in certain buildings, starting with the Empire State Building.

Starbucks Chief Digital Officer Adam Brotman said there will be no minimum purchase required, but that deliveries will require "a small flat fee." He declined to say what the exact fee will be. Delivery workers will accept tips, too.

Brotman said the average time for deliveries will be 30 minutes, starting from when the order is placed.

For New York City, people will be able use a website to place orders. In Seattle, people would place orders via the company's mobile app. The hours of operation for delivery are still being determined.

In the meantime, Starbucks Corp. also says it's on track for a national rollout of mobile order-and-pay, which lets customers place orders through its apps ahead of time so that drinks and food are ready when they arrive at the store. The program was launched in Portland, Oregon, late last year. Starbucks Chief Financial Officer Scott Maw says the company expects to see a lift in sales as a result of mobile order-and-pay by late this year.

Mobile order-and-pay will launch in Canada this year as well, and be tested in the United Kingdom, according to the company.